Okay, so this may be cheating a little but after thinking about who I’d invite I realised that there were quite a few fictional characters I’d like to host at a dinner party. So here’s my list of (famous?) oh so fictional people (a good smattering of non-human too) .

#1 – To start with my most loved character from one of my favourite authors, Nobody Owens (“Bod”) from Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. I know it’s odd, but I feel kind of motherly towards him.

#2 & 3 – With the mood already set to dark and gloomy, my next guests would be Lestat and Louis from Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Their presence alone is bound to create a little tension in the room and I’m sure they’ll make all the other guests feel underdressed.

#4 & 5 – Keeping the fictional vampire guests going – Nathaniel Cade from Christopher Farnsworth’s The President’s Vampire series and his … hmmm, “handler” sounds so disrespectful … his “co-worker” Zach Barrows. An old vampire working with the Government in modern times – I’m sure Zach’s stories of some of their exploits will have the whole table transfixed.

#6 & 7 – A little out of this world action next, Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman) and the Tenth Doctor (played by David Tennant). My only concern is that weird alien stuff always seems to happen when they’re around.

#8 – Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds from FireFly and Serenity. *sigh* … you can’t take the sky from me … I’m sure he’d have lots to discuss with Captain Jack and the Doctor (although I have a suspicion the Doctor will be far more fascinated with the non-breathing guests).

#9 – Another great mind – I think we need to throw in The Mentalist, Simon Baker’s character Patrick Jane. I wonder what he’d read in Lestat and Louis?

#10 & 11 – And the last two guests – Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and Martin Freeman’s Watson. Might need to seat Captain Mal and Watson between Sherlock and The Mentalist just to avoid any potential clashes.

So there’s my completely fictional fantasy dinner organised.

Of course if I was inviting real life people I can name 3 celebs straight off the top of my head –

#1 – The amazing Robert Smith from the Cure. I’ve been listening to his music since a teenager and have spent many a night falling dreamily into his lyrics.

#2 – Mr Stephen Fry. Now that would just be totally awesome. Can you imagine the conversation? Plus we could all compare smart phones and such, and tweet about it all afterwards.

#3 – Neil Gaiman. He’s just so intriguing and so many stories to tell.